


Here With Me

by badgerling



Category: Burn Notice
Genre: Gen, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-19
Updated: 2012-02-19
Packaged: 2017-10-31 11:26:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/343539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badgerling/pseuds/badgerling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Michael finds a post-shooting Victor in the hospital, only he doesn't remember a thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Here With Me

"He doesn't remember anything. Not even his own name, are you sure he's the one you're looking for?" The nurse is trying to be kind, but Michael doesn't really need kind, not right then. He'd like answers, but those are probably a long, long way from coming. Michael doesn't answer her at first, he's too busy staring through the observation window at the man who took two in the chest, one from Michael himself.

He doesn't need Victor to know his own name. Michael already knows it's him. He knows it from the set of his shoulders, from the tilt of his head. "Victor. His name is Victor," he says. He can see the line of tension and pain going down Victor's back, and he hesitates before turning to the nurse. "What happened to him?" Michael has to keep his questions vague. He wants to know where they found him, how they found him, how he survived.

The last thing he needs right now, though, is a police investigation. He's had enough of those lately, thanks.

So he plays dumb, and the nice nurse already thinks Michael's family, just looking for his lost brother than went missing several months ago. She's got kind eyes, and she keeps placing her hand on Michael's arm in sympathy as she explains the gunshot wounds, one long range, one up close. Gang violence, she says, with a shake of her head. Not many gangs in Miami use sniper rifles, but Michael doesn't bother to correct her.

"Can I see him? Take him home?" The concern in his voice isn't faked, though the hint of desperation is. Michael tells himself he's only worried that someone else, someone from Victor's past is going to find out he's alive and here, and Michael's pretty sure hospitals frown on gunfights and explosions. He also knows that's not the only reason he wants Victor out of there, but it gives his voice enough of an edge that the nurse steps back and nods, just a little.

"The doctor will have to clear him, but I'll check," she says. She opens the door and gestures for Michael to enter before she leaves them alone. For that first second after he's left alone, Michael stops at the door. He doesn't like hospitals, but he also doesn't like seeing people he cares about in them. When he finally steps into the room, he makes sure to actually make noise.

Even with that added noise, he sees Victor's shoulders tense further. Michael only pauses for a moment at that before moving around to stand in front of Victor. He keeps his hands out of his pockets, fingers spread wider at hip height. It's a universal signal that Michael's unarmed, but he's not really sure why he did it. It's not like Victor's going to understand. Or maybe he will. There's always muscle memory and instinct, two things Victor had a ton of.

His eyes are surprisingly clear.

Michael isn't sure what he was expecting. It's not like Victor would have been struck blind by being shot, but the eyes looking up at him are blue, hard, and cold. Like Victor has always been. It's Michael that looks away first, kneeling down in front of him, putting him beneath Victor's level because he's not there to intimidate anyone. He reaches out, his fingers only inches away from Victor's arm when they both pull back at the same time.

"I don't like to be touched," Victor says, and the tone is very familiar, even if Victor's staring at him like he's trying to figure him out. Head tilts one way, then back the other. His eyes never lose focus on Michael's face, and it really is a little bit like being watched by some kind of predator. A snake maybe, or a large cat.

Not that Victor was ever cuddly before, but it seems worse now. Like the not knowing has made him even cagier.

Michael thinks this is probably a mistake. Dangerous animals like Victor around his people don't last long, even if they don't remember being dangerous. He exhales slowly through his nose before nodding as he comes to some kind of decision. "You'll be out of here in no time," he says, the smile on his face more for the nurse's benefit as she returns to watch them through the window.

Victor gives him another look that borders on confused and hostile, and Michael knows he'll probably need to get used to that expression. "Whatever you say, tiger." The tone is familiar again, the nickname close enough to another one, and Michael has to double take, but Victor's eyes remain cold. And distant.

**Author's Note:**

> USA owns them.


End file.
